Coughlin should sack Pierre-Paul's hazing habit

In 2002, New York Giants linebacker Brandon Short demanded that tough-guy tight end Jeremy Shockey sing his alma mater in front of the team, just like all Giants rookies had for years gone by. Shockey, five minutes into his first NFL camp and already a bigger star than Short, told him to stick it.

Punches were thrown.

And grudges were held.

The two players disliked (no, hated) each other ever since – or at least every day they wore the same uniform.

It's typical NFL hazing, but when it gets out of hand, it can drive a wedge into a locker room. As a former NFL beat writer, I've seen it happen many times, on smaller levels. The resentment lasts for years.

And, in those days, hazing humiliation was limited to local newspapers (if it was even mentioned) – not like when Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara has been undressed in front of the world, his manhood challenged, thanks to a video posted to Twitter (and then to other websites).

The clip shows defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul carrying Amukamara through the Giants' facility and tossing him recklessly into a large soaking tub of ice-cold water.

Forget for a moment that one or both of them could have been injured in the idiocy. That's another story.

Some Giants laugh. Others taunt Amukamara. Still others help JPP squeeze Amukamara's legs through doorways in order to get him to the dunking tank. The chant rings out: "Cold tub! Cold tub!"

No one tries to stop Pierre-Paul. Why? He's a star. No one would dare.

Or maybe they think Amukamara, for whatever reason, deserves the humiliation.

When Pierre-Paul gets to the tub, he doesn't toss his teammate in gently. He throws him in violently, as if this is an exclamation point to some beef.

The anger of both men is obvious: Pierre-Paul swears at the camera as he passes by; Amukamara, seething, rubs the water from his eyes.

This is not boys being boys. And those who say so probably haven't been in an NFL locker room, where even on the tightest of teams, there are politics and pecking orders and bullies and quiet kids. Not every football player is a caveman. Some just want to do their jobs, collect their checks and move on to another career with the faculties intact. Many are nice guys.

But on every NFL roster – every roster – there are sniping, whispering troublemakers who, for whatever reason, want to take teammates down.

Amukamara says he's believes "it's all love," but he knows better. For some reason, he is a target. He's the nerdy kid in the lunch room. Maybe he's too mouthy. Maybe his teammates pick on him because he will not fight back. But he will not forget this, because this, he says, is the eighth time he has been tossed into the tub in the past two years.

"I just don't get it. I don't understand the rules," Amukamara told The Star-Ledger of Newark on Sunday. "I mean, I'm not a rookie anymore, so I don't know why I'm getting thrown in the tub.

"No one ever likes it, especially when it's you vs. eight and no one's helping you. But it doesn't mess up our team morale or anything."

No, it's great for team morale. Or at least the other 50-something guys who found it hilarious. After Amukamara gets dumped in the tub, a teammate screams at him: "You better stand up for yourself! Stand up for yourself!"

Now, if this were all in good fun, would he have to stand up for himself?

Besides, what are his options? Fight a much larger teammate? Kick and scream? Escalate the problem by slashing the tires on JPP's vehicle? No, Pierre-Paul knows Amukamara will take it, like he always has. So, JPP will keep dishing it out.

Strangely, coach Tom Coughlin seemed more upset at punter Steve Weatherford for posting the video than at JPP for bullying a teammate. Again. And again. And again.

"Anything that occurs within this family or within our group should not be a part of any social media aspect, " Coughlin said. "I'm going to address that strongly, and I've spent a little time on that this preseason."

Now, Coughlin has won a couple of Super Bowls with this "family," but he has a locker-room problem he must address now (and it's not the use of Twitter.) If not, it's going to linger. Heck, it's going to linger anyway.

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About Nate Davis

Nate Davis is a reporter, blogger and editor who's been at USA TODAY since 2000. He has covered the NFL since 2005. No, he did not play quarterback for Ball State. Davis' succession of our esteemed colleague Sean Leahy at The Huddle is considered a Brady-for-Bledsoe swap by most "insiders."More about Nate